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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27765118">Hands</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoldenBones/pseuds/GoldenBones'>GoldenBones</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Umbrella Academy (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Fluff, Fluff without Plot, Hand &amp; Finger Kink, Klaus Hargreeves &amp; David "Dave" Katz During Vietnam, M/M, Vietnam War, anti-war sentiments, minor hurt if you squint</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 22:33:40</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,640</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27765118</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoldenBones/pseuds/GoldenBones</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Late at night after the disco when everyone else is asleep, Klaus kneels at Dave’s bunk and whispers a silent prayer into Dave’s hands. In a rare moment of peace against the harsh Vietnam winter, Klaus holds Dave’s hand against his face and tries to sleep.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Klaus Hargreeves/David "Dave" Katz</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Hands</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I just realized that Dave Katz would probably be slightly older than the Baby Boomer generation which just feels weird to know, being born in 1940 (according to Cody Ray Thompson, Dave Katz’s actor). Also, Dave totally would be the type of person to call Klaus pretty boy earnestly, partially because of the flustered reaction Klaus would give in response, and partially because he genuinely thinks that Klaus is a really pretty guy.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>After the kiss in the disco, Klaus is sure he’s found the man he wants to spend the rest of his life with. For God’s sake, he’s found someone who will love him and accept him, fuckup and all, and for the first time, he’s finally ready to stop running away because he found someone he cares about so much more than himself that it scares him. Someone who loves him for who he is instead of looking for someone who isn’t there. He hated that — whenever his family would look for someone in Klaus that wasn’t there.</p><p>It wasn’t the one night at the disco. It was Dave looking out for Klaus on the field again and again and making sure that he was alright. It was cracking bad jokes for some needed levity whenever he could, throwing a wry smile before falling silent and staring into Klaus’ eyes with a determined intensity, searching, to make sure he was okay in the few brief seconds they could afford.</p><p>Klaus aches to touch him more, to be near him, and to breathe the same air that he breathes. He craves an intimacy he doesn’t have the words to say. Dave is his soulmate, in every sense of the word.</p><p>Everyone’s already retired to their sleeping quarters but he finds it impossible to rest. Eyes wide open in the dead of night, the rain beating down on their tent doing little to muffle the sound of his racing thoughts.</p><p>Holding his breath, Klaus finds Dave’s bunk and crouches there, hugging his knees. He’s silent, calmed by the sight of the slow rise and fall of his chest. He reaches out his hand to put it onto his chest, to feel the beating of his heart, but he stops, hand inches from his body.</p><p>Dave shifts on the bed and Klaus can’t breathe —  won’t breathe —  for fear of waking him and scaring the only man he’s ever loved away. He knows how out of place the situation looks but he can’t help himself. Klaus strains to hear if any of the other men in the tent are rousing but the heavy rain muffles the sound of their snoring. He finally lets out the breath he’s been holding and puts his hand on Dave’s chest.</p><p>It’s warmer than he expected. His heart is beating. He’s still alive. Thank god. A smile sneaks onto the side of Klaus’ lips at how silly he feels because of course, Dave is still alive.</p><p>Kneeling at the foot of Dave’s bed now, he lays his head on his crossed arms resting on the mattress, and stares silently at Dave, his face inches away, an expression of longing. </p><p>He swears he’s going to get the both of them out of here, out of this shitty war that some stupid politicians decided to fight, throwing away the lives of good and decent young men — boys, they were only boys for Christ’s sake! Some barely 20, still a babe in their mothers’ eyes — because Dave, plain hamburger loving Dave, the good-natured and intensely caring Dave who could have been anyone’s neighbor didn’t deserve to be stuck in this stupid war. None of them did.</p><p>Dave must have woken up while he was thinking because the next thing he knew, Dave’s eyes were staring right back at him, a soft smile resting plainly on his face. All the fear he had about waking Dave just melted away.</p><p>“Why are your brows so furrowed, you silly little thing?” Dave says to Klaus, voice barely a whisper. “Stop it, you’ll ruin your pretty face.”</p><p>Klaus can’t help but notice how his face had been scrunched up when Dave gently pushes a teasing finger between Klaus’ eyebrows, expression softening.</p><p>“There we go, pretty boy.”</p><p>Klaus holds the hand that was just on his face. It’s rough and warm and callused, slightly bigger than his own and capable of so much tenderness. Klaus holds both their hands in front of him. Both are painfully male, although his own hasn’t become as rough with work and war yet.</p><p>His gaze lingers on the tattoo on his hand.</p><p>Hello and Goodbye.</p><p>He’s said Hello to Dave, and he’s not sure if he ever wants to say Goodbye. Glancing at Dave’s worried expression again, Klaus brings his hand and gently kisses the first knuckle and leaves it there, touching his lips as he whispers all the things he wishes he could do for both of them. To keep them both safe. To take away from the war and to take away all the pain that Dave has ever felt. To make him happy. If Klaus could take him away from here, far, far away, and protect him in any way he can, he would do it right now, he just needed to find that stupid suitcase. It had been lost in the disorientation when he arrived.</p><p>Dave feels the heat of Klaus’s breath against his hand, watching his lips quietly moving. He considers teasing Klaus again but playfulness turns to concern when he sees Klaus’s expression. A mixture of worry and protectiveness wells up inside him. Klaus has had that cloudy expression on his face more and more often recently.</p><p>All Dave wants to do is to protect Klaus and take him far away from here. Klaus was clearly out of his element – who among them could say they were, being in a war – and probably drafted against his will, but he found that his feelings went beyond concern. His feelings toward Klaus went beyond love, and he didn’t know the boundary of his emotions but he was ready to find them with Klaus.</p><p>The war would be over any day now, they just needed to stay alive until then. but he had his duty to his country. It would have to be in the summer, or spring at least. They just needed to stay alive until then.</p><p>Dave smiles again to himself. How on earth did he get so lucky to meet Klaus in such a shitty situation. He’d enlisted to try and fit in with the rest of the men in his family, but sometimes he still doesn’t know if he belongs.</p><p>Sometimes Klaus… reminded him of the stray animals he used to foster, lost cats and dogs that needed a home. Klaus almost seemed like the first stray animal he ever took in, a stray black kitten. Scared and wounded, it took forever for the kitten to open up to Dave but it filled his heart with so much joy that he never let it go until its death a few weeks before he enlisted. Other times, Klaus reminded him of a puppy, with those big wet eyes that held so much emotion that it almost scared him.</p><p>Dave moves his hand closer to his lips and kisses Klaus’s hand gently, returning the gesture, the gentle warmth of his breath from his chapped lips enveloping Klaus’s hand like a soft prayer. Feeling mischievous, probably from being around Klaus too much, he nipped at Klaus’ fingertips, making him yelp in surprise.</p><p>Klaus hurried to cover his mouth with his free hand, heart pumping, waiting to see if any of the people in the tent had stirred from his reaction, but the heavy beating of the rain drowned out the sound. Growing confident, Klaus takes back his hands, fingers almost intertwined, and opens Dave’s hand, palm facing Klaus, and ever so gently rubbed Dave’s hand on his cheek, eyes closing blissfully, his heart still thudding in his chest. Taking in a deep breath, the smell of Dave filled his body. It was the smell of gunpowder and sweat and the unmistakable smell of Dave. Klaus bends his neck to gently kiss Dave’s hand.</p><p>Dave smiled to himself, relieved that Klaus seemed to relax a little, finally. Some other emotion stirred deep inside him when he realized that <em>he</em> was the reason Klaus was responding that way, and how much it meant to Dave that Klaus felt that way.</p><p>Dave paused a moment, closing his hand barely to scratch the side of Klaus’ head where his cheek met his jaw, fingertips prickled by the texture of his stubble as his thumb brushed against his closed eye. His eyelashes tickled, feeling like a small fan against his finger.</p><p>Klaus responds in kind, smiling at the contact and bending his head to go deeper into the cup of Dave’s hand, wanting more of the touch, the caress, that Dave offered, almost nuzzling the open palm, offering more little kisses to the gentle hand.</p><p>Finally opening his eyes slightly, Klaus stares at Dave with an indescribable emotion on his face. A mixture of love, adoration, and something hotter.</p><p>Moving closer while bringing Dave’s hand down so that it was upright, Klaus brought Dave’s fingers to his lips, the softness and moisture of his lips wetting Dave’s finger.</p><p>Klaus slowly opens his mouth and took Dave’s fingertip in his mouth. The warmth a relief in the cold and damp Vietnam winter, reminding him of a chill that he almost forgot from the warmth of Klaus’ face. Klaus’ eyes stared up at him, looking for approval while he brought Dave’s finger deeper into his mouth.</p><p>A loud snort comes from the other side of the tent, making Klaus recoil.</p><p>Eyes clouded with thought and worry, Klaus paused before sliding back down to his knees, Dave’s hand slightly colder at the combination of the new moisture and the cold of the air.</p><p>Bringing Dave’s hand back to the side of his face again, he closes his eyes again with a renewed look of calm. Klaus’ smile slowly fades from his lips as the rise and fall of his chest evens out, sliding into the first deep and peaceful sleep he’s had in a while.</p>
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